Chương 96: CHAPTER 94: CARRIAGE PAST THE BARRICADES

The cold morning breeze swept through the shattered doorway of the small delta clinic, rustling the loose paper strips on the herb rack. Shin stood by the oak table, his dark traveler coat fastened securely and his leather satchel slung across his chest. He checked the fastenings on his canvas instrument roll one last time. Every tool—from the thin silver scalpels with dark-iron grips to the flat bone-scrapers and fine suture needles—was secured in its dedicated slot.

Behind his smooth, white porcelain mask, his gaze swept across the quiet workspace. The small hearth was cold. The wooden examination slab sat wiped clean. The empty glass medicine jars stood in neat rows against the pine shelves, leaving the modest room in orderly stillness.

"All essential tools cataloged and loaded," a clear, chime-like voice rang softly near his collarbone. The tiny, glowing chibi figurine floated into the air beside his right ear, sitting comfortably on her small cushion of golden light. She wore her miniature dark coat with silver trims, swinging her tiny boots back and forth with a cheerful grin.

"You left half a jar of dried mountain mint on the top shelf, Doctor," she pointed out, tapping her chin with a miniature finger.

"Are we abandoning it to the slum rats, or do you want me to fold it into your spatial inventory?"

"Leave it," Shin replied in a quiet, flat tone.

"The local foragers who clean this place after we leave can use the mint for winter teas. Packing unnecessary plant matter is a waste of inventory space."

"Always so calculating," she giggled, doing a neat little spin in the air before landing lightly on his shoulder pad.

"Fine, fine. Let us leave this damp river ditch behind. The carriage outside has cushioned leather seats that look far more comfortable than that wooden chair!" Director Vivienne stood waiting by the open doorway, her long amethyst velvet cloak billowing gently in the wind. She tapped the ash from her narrow briarwood pipe against the door frame, slipping the slender tool into an inner pocket of her coat.

"Ready, Doctor?" Vivienne asked, gesturing toward the street with a gloved hand.

"My coachman has kept the horses calm, but the local air is growing rather thick with imperial tension. It would be wise to depart before the Captain finds an excuse to file a formal protest."

"Lead the way," Shin said simply. He stepped through the broken door frame and walked out into the damp street. The massive, three-ton luxury carriage crafted from polished mahogany stood waiting on the muddy road. Its dark panels gleamed with inlaid silver filigree forming the crest of the Royal Magic and Research Academy. The four heavy northern warhorses snorted, plumes of white steam rising from their broad nostrils into the chilly air.

The tall coachman in midnight-blue livery opened the wide carriage door with a low, respectful bow. Shin climbed the iron step and entered the carriage interior, with Vivienne following closely behind. The door closed with a solid, muffled thud, completely cutting off the damp, chilly river draft. Inside, the carriage was spacious, warm, and remarkably quiet. The wide bench seats were upholstered in deep crimson velvet, padded with soft goose down.

Polished brass lantern sconces hung from the curved mahogany ceiling, casting a warm amber glow across the interior. Thick wool rugs covered the floorboards, absorbing every vibration from the cobblestones beneath. Shin sat on the forward bench, setting his medical satchel down beside him. With a soft crack of the coachman's whip and a low creak of heavy springs, the massive mahogany vehicle began to roll forward.

The wide alchemical steel wheel-bands turned smoothly, rolling through the muddy ruts of the delta road without a single harsh jolt. As the carriage turned the corner toward the main district exit, the narrow alley opened into the central square. The entire road was locked down. Dozens of heavy infantry soldiers and mounted officers from the Imperial Inquisition lined both sides of the street.

They had dragged massive wooden barricades reinforced with iron crossbeams across the road, narrowing the path to a single checkpoint. Long iron pikes bristled in the morning light, their tips pointed upward in rigid military formation. Standing beside the central blockade gate was the scarred Inquisition Captain from the clinic. His face was flushed with dark, humiliated rage. His hands gripped the hilt of his sheathed mana blade so tightly that his leather gloves creaked under the strain.

Behind him, two dozen heavily armored guards stood at attention, glaring with venomous eyes at the approaching academy carriage. Because of the royal academic charter signed by Vivienne, they had no legal authority to stop the transport. Attacking a carriage carrying a Sovereign Chair under direct royal immunity was an act of high treason punishable by immediate execution. All the Captain could do was stand in the mud and watch them leave.

"Look at them!" the tiny chibi figurine laughed loudly, pressing her small face against the clear glass window of the carriage. Of course, to the soldiers and to Director Vivienne, there was nothing on Shin's shoulder but empty air. The spatial concealment of his Abyssal Shroud: Perfect Veil kept her completely invisible and silent to the outside world. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Look at that angry Captain's face!" the chibi giggled, kicking her little legs in wild amusement.

"His left eyelid is twitching! His jaw looks like it might crack in half! All those shiny pikes, all that heavy iron armor, and he has to stand there like a useless gray statue while we roll right past his nose! Doctor, you should roll down the window and wave at him!"

"Be quiet," Shin muttered beneath his breath, barely moving his lips behind the white porcelain mask.

"I am just enjoying the scenery," she countered with a sassy pout, floating back from the window to sit cross-legged in the air beside his cheek.

"It is not every day an entire imperial brigade gets completely neutralized by a single piece of purple parchment." The carriage passed through the narrow opening between the iron barricades. The coachman did not slow down, and the Inquisition soldiers were forced to pull back their pikes to let the wide mahogany wheels pass.

The Captain locked eyes with the dark carriage window, his bloodshot gaze burning with silent fury as the vehicle rolled out of the lower delta slums and onto the wide, paved highway leading toward the upper capital. Inside the carriage, the soft hum of rolling wheels settled into a steady, rhythmic cadence. Director Vivienne leaned back into the plush velvet cushions opposite Shin.

She untied the ribbon of her wide-brimmed black hat, setting it down on the empty seat beside her, revealing her neatly combed raven hair and sharp, aristocratic features. She reached into a side compartment of the carriage wall, pulling out a crystal decanter filled with pale amber wine and two small glass tumblers.

"A toast to a clean departure, Doctor," Vivienne said, pouring a small measure into one of the glasses and offering it across the small wooden table.

"You left a very powerful imperial officer thoroughly humiliated today. That Captain will likely spend the next three months writing complaint letters to the High Tribunal."

"I do not consume alcohol while traveling," Shin replied flatly, keeping his hands resting on his knees.

"It dulls peripheral reflexes and slows cellular reaction time." Vivienne raised an eyebrow, a slight, knowing smile touching her lips. She set the second glass down and took a small sip from her own.

"Always the ascetic physician," she remarked smoothly, resting her chin on her palm as she observed him with sharp violet eyes.

"Tell me, Doctor... during our conversation in that ruined clinic, you mentioned that dissolving the imperial divisions would take you less than two minutes. A bold statement, even for an S-rank combatant." Shin did not answer immediately. He remained unmoving, his porcelain mask angled toward the passing scenery outside the window. Abe saale... Rudra thought in mild irritation. First she drinks wine in a moving carriage, and now she wants me to explain cellular decay like an afternoon bedtime story.

These academy bureaucrats never know when to close their mouths.

"The research reports from Sector 9 were truly fascinating," Vivienne continued, leaning forward slightly, her tone shifting into the eager, probing curiosity of a master scholar.

"The scouts found no residue of common elemental magic. No fire scorch, no residual lightning charge, and no trace of corrosive acid. The biological tissue of those Level-40 beasts was completely dismantled at a molecular scale. What school of casting does that belong to? Is it an ancient form of localized spatial collapse, or a unique biological frequency tied to your prosthetic arm?" The chibi figurine on Shin's shoulder crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Here it comes," the chibi sighed in a mocking tone.

"The grand interrogation! She thinks she can extract your core secrets with a glass of cheap wine and a flattering smile! Doctor, tell her you use magical potato peels to dissolve monsters!" Shin remained entirely composed. He turned his head slowly, locking the cold, featureless gaze of his porcelain mask onto Vivienne.

"There is no mystery to what occurred in Sector 9, Director," Shin said, his voice flat, dry, and strictly clinical.

"All biological life is composed of complex structural matrices held together by continuous cellular energy transfer. If you introduce a massive kinetic disruption that destabilizes the binding proteins while neutralizing the internal moisture simultaneously, the cellular walls lose structural integrity. The tissue collapses into dry particulate matter." Vivienne blinked, her analytical smile faltering slightly.

"Kinetic disruption of binding proteins...?" she repeated slowly, rolling the unfamiliar medical terms around in her mind.

"Are you suggesting you dismantled their mana circuits through physical vibration alone?"

"I am stating that a body is simply a machine made of blood, bone, and connective tissue," Shin replied, cutting off her line of inquiry with cold efficiency.

"If you understand where the mechanical load-bearing points are located, breaking them requires very little force. It is basic anatomy, not high mysticism. Any apprentice butcher understands that cutting along the grain yields a cleaner separation than hacking blindly at the bone." Vivienne stared at him for several long moments, trying to find a crack in his explanation. But his tone was so thoroughly dry, clinical, and matter-of-fact that she could find nothing to argue against.

"An apprentice butcher..." Vivienne murmured with a soft, wry chuckle, shaking her head as she leaned back against the cushions.

"You describe the total obliteration of a hundred-monster horde as if it were nothing more than trimming fat from a cut of beef. You truly are an infuriating man to interview, Doctor Shin."

"I am a pathologist, not a storyteller," Shin said calmly.

"If you wanted grand tales of glowing spells and mystical chants, you should have hired an elven court bard."

"Pfft!" the chibi figurine burst out laughing, tumbling over backward in mid-air.

"An elven court bard! You shut her down completely! Her brain is smoking trying to process your butcher analogy!" Vivienne took another slow sip of her wine, deciding to drop the subject for the remainder of the journey. She pulled a thick leather-bound ledger from her travel satchel and began reviewing administrative documents in silence. The carriage continued its steady ascent along the grand northern highway.

The rough dirt roads of the borderlands gradually gave way to wide, smooth avenues paved with polished white granite. In the distance, rising high above the green forest canopy, the majestic skyline of the imperial capital came into view. Massive outer walls built from white stone towered fifty feet into the air, reinforced with glowing azure defense runes and guarded by platoons of royal sentries.

Beyond the first wall lay the bustling trade districts, where grand stone estates, multi-story merchant houses, and towering glass conservatories stretched as far as the eye could see. The carriage bypassed the common civilian gates entirely, rolling smoothly through the fortified inner checkpoint reserved exclusively for high nobility and sovereign faculty. After passing through a second, even larger white stone gate, the carriage entered the sprawling grounds of the Royal Magic and Research Academy.

The academy was an entire city within a city. Massive spires of white marble and dark obsidian reached toward the sky, connected by sweeping arched bridges made of glowing alchemical glass. Expansive green courtyards filled with rare magical flora lay between towering lecture halls, grand libraries, and heavily guarded research vaults. Hundreds of students wearing pristine robes of blue, gold, and silver walked along the polished stone walkways, carrying heavy leather-bound tomes and ornate wooden staves.

As Vivienne's recognizable mahogany carriage rolled through the central academy boulevard, dozens of students and lower faculty members stopped in their tracks, watching the grand vehicle with curiosity and quiet murmurs.

"Look at this place," the chibi figurine whispered, floating up to the window with wide, sparkling cyan eyes.

"It is so bright, shiny, and excessively clean! Look at those giant glass towers! I bet the cleaning bill for those windows is astronomical!" Shin observed the grand architecture with a calm, indifferent eye. To him, the towering spires and glowing glass arches were nothing more than unnecessary structural excess. Tall towers were vulnerable to wind shear, glass walkways were prone to thermal stress fractures, and open courtyards were impossible to defend against airborne contamination.

The carriage slowed its pace, turning down a wide avenue lined with ancient weeping willows toward the Grand Central Archway of the high faculty district. Suddenly, the peaceful atmosphere of the academy grounds was shattered. DONG... DONG... DONG... A deep, heavy, and resonant iron toll echoed from the massive bell tower standing at the center of the high administration citadel. The sound was not the bright, rhythmic chime used to announce the change of lecture periods.

It was a dark, rolling vibration that shook the leaves from the nearby willow trees, carrying a sharp, urgent mana frequency that reverberated straight through the stone streets. Outside the carriage, hundreds of students instantly froze, their faces pale with shock as they looked toward the central spire." The Great Bell of the Sovereign Council..." Director Vivienne murmured, her casual expression instantly vanishing.

She set her wine glass down onto the table with a sharp clink, her violet eyes hardening with cold annoyance.

"The high faculty has gathered."

"What does that signal mean?" Shin asked, his voice steady and calm. Vivienne picked up her wide-brimmed black hat, placing it back over her raven hair and securing the silver raven feather.

"It means the high arch-mages, the noble deans, and the conservative department heads have caught wind of your appointment," Vivienne said, her tone laced with sharp displeasure.

"They have called an emergency assembly of the High Faculty Tribunal at the central gates to block your carriage and contest your sovereign seat before you can set foot in the subterranean vaults."